800,000 People in U.S. Diagnosed Each Year

[roster]

This is making a little dent in the "90% undiagnosed".

Some 800,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed each year with obstructive sleep apnea, in which the tongue relaxes during the onset of sleep to the point of physically blocking much of the upper airway. The condition often causes repeated interruptions of sleep, which can lead to increased blood pressure, coronary problems, and diabetes.

[Jersey Girl]

Dear Rooster,

Interesting article. I, for one, would MUCH rather use cpap, than have an implant that is inside of me and have to plug a charger into my chest. It seems like a very invasive treatment. I watched the u-tube and realized that I would definitely NOT want that kind of operation/treatment. My little machine is nice, quiet, and comforting. I'll stick with it!

Warmly,

Jersey Girl

[packitin]

deleted

[roster]

I don't beat up the guys that are trying to find something to replace our primitive CPAP therapy.

Someday, someone is going to develop something much better than CPAP.

The point of my posting was seeing a statistic that 800,000 are being diagnosed every year. That number represents a huge health problem.

[Starlette]

Make that 800,001. My Dad is going home with a cpap when he leaves the hospital here soon *crosses fingers* due to internal bleeding. Just started it a night or two ago.

Starlette

[rosiefrosie]

Sounds like a TENS unit for the tongue. Yikes!

rosie

[roster]

Make that 800,001. My Dad is going home with a cpap when he leaves the hospital here soon *crosses fingers* due to internal bleeding. Just started it a night or two ago.

Starlette

Best wishes for your dad. How did it come about that he was diagnosed? Did he go to the hospital for another issue and they noticed the sleep apnea?

[fidelfs]

I think I rather learn how to play Didgeridoo.

[pdean44]

Ohhhhhhhh how dissapointing to not be unique

[Joe50]

After another truck driver went to sleep at the wheel on the highway just a few miles from me this past week I have decided to join a couple of the truckdriver forums and maybe convince a few of them to get diagnosed and on therapy. It's not much but maybe it will take a few truckers off the undiagnosed list.

[roster]

After another truck driver went to sleep at the wheel on the highway just a few miles from me this past week I have decided to join a couple of the truckdriver forums and maybe convince a few of them to get diagnosed and on therapy. It's not much but maybe it will take a few truckers off the undiagnosed list.

You may also save them from bad health and early death due to heart attack, coronary disease, stroke, complications of type 2 diabetes, anxiety and depression.

You are a good man.

[Guest]

There is a LOT of negative feelings about sleep apnea testing if you went to most trucker forums.

A lot of it is because of the recent medical guidelines to make sleep apnea screening and mandatory testing part of the DOT physicals. Yet there is nothing about who is supposed to pay for this.

To keep their job truck drivers with no insurance making $ 35,000 - 42,000 / year are supposed to come up with $ 4-6,000 to cover diagnostic and titrating PSG, CPAP (must be data compliant therefore mostly top of the line = expensive) and monitoring.

I would be VERY interested to hear what kind of reactions you get.

(a truck driver with sleep apnea)

[williamco]

The statistics of sleep apnea in USA is 6% . that is 18 million out of the 300 mil in USA
if they diagnose 0.8 million patient a year, this would mean that this statistics will not hold. it will get higher